Welcome to RuPaul’s Drag Race Power Rankings! Every week, we’re debriefing the week’s new episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 18 to determine which queens are riding high, and which need she-mergency care. Unlike the past couple seasons, we actually meet the entire cast in this premiere and see how they fare in the challenge. Let’s get to know them, shall we?
14. Mandy Mango
Lots of love for Mandy, a working nurse who joins an esteemed list of medical care providers to be on the show, among queens like Canada’s Drag Race’s Minhi Wang and the late, great Cherry Valentine from RuPaul’s Drag Race UK. But I’m not sure this is the format for her. I felt about the same as Cardi B about Mandy’s look: It was just hideous, with major flaws in nearly every element. (The judges didn’t even get into her rose headpiece, which I hated most of all.) She got in a funny line during critiques—“I specialize in HIV and LGBTQ sexual health,” she said, gesturing to her fellow queens, “so you’ll find me in the clinic treating their gonorrhea”—but one good joke does not a promising Drag Race contender make. I fear we’re going to lose Mandy early.
13. Kenya Pleaser
This is a Kenya Pleaser stan account. I’m obsessed with her. Her outfit this week was a disaster, and her explanation for why her original concept didn’t work made little sense. Her not gathering any fabric materials for her look was an absurd choice. And yet I don’t care. I don’t care! Kenya Pleaser should be given an automatic pass to the finale. She is the entertainment! I want to see Kenya lip sync. I want to see the talent show performance she desperately wanted to do this week. I want to see her almost inevitable Lizzo Snatch Game. I want nothing but success for Kenya, and I am so thrilled that when she flopped, it was in a non-elimination episode. Season 18 deserves as much Kenya as we can get!
12. Juicy Love Dion
Juicy is gorgeous, and she makes for quite the model on the runway. Cardi was right: She managed to make what was effectively a strip of fabric stuck to her bra look chic and sexy. Ru likes when a queen has star quality that makes their actual performance basically irrelevant; I could see her really vibing with Juicy. It also helps that we’re getting a girl groups challenge next week, so she’s got a chance to show her strengths right after scoring low in this premiere. All this said … I wonder if Juicy is going to struggle with Athena Dion in the same cast. At first, I assumed it would be an advantage, but Athena not offering to help her sew was a sign that this is an every-queen-for-herself situation. Having a competitor she has an emotional attachment to, but not a competitor who will help her, could prove a sticky situation. We’ll see!
11. DD Fuego
The only reason DD was not in the bottom this week is because there were only three slots to go around. Even then, I think I would’ve put her down there instead of Juicy. Her foil look with a blanket corset was truly ugly, though as an idea, I’ll admit the corset is cool. But this is a challenge about both design and execution. Overall, DD’s got wild energy, and I’m interested in how she’ll tackle some of the comedy challenges. But if another design task comes up any time soon, and Kenya remembers to grab fabric this time, I’d be worried for her chances.
10. Discord Addams
Discord’s look was actually pretty great—loved the chain in the back in particular—but she’s low on the list for two reasons. One is that absolutely batshit model walk she did on the runway. Girl, practice that in front of the mirror before you debut it on the main stage! The other is that she threw a bit of a fit over not being in the top, even taking some of the queens’ time with Cardi B to seek her validation, which does not speak to someone who will be able to go with the flow of a Drag Race season. It’s awesome to take pride in your work and want recognition for it. But she was fixating, and in this competition, you just gotta keep it pushing. Her edit was pretty bad from the jump, too: The flashback to Cardi saying she would wear Nini Coco’s look, immediately after Discord said she would die if Cardi said that, was brutal. I think Discord will give us a few episodes of villainy before a mid-season departure, which feels right.
9. Ciara Myst
Ranking Ciara even this high is more an expression of faith in her abilities than it is a reflection of how she did this week. I thought her runway, kind of a warped take on Mystique from X-Men, was cool, but costume-y. That’s likely a problem “the shapeshifting superstar of Indianapolis, Indiana” is going to run into—we’ve seen it in the past with queens like Charity Kase on Drag Race UK, where the show just can’t see beyond the “costume.” I almost wonder if Ciara wouldn’t have found more success as a horror gal on Dragula. But I personally really like her drag and how much of a transformation she accomplishes. I’m excited to see more from her.
8. Myki Meeks
I think Myki is the queen I have the fewest opinions on after this premiere. I do tend to like hostess queens—hosting requires a real range of talents and skills—but it’s tough that Drag Race has never really found a way to build a challenge around hosting. (I know, those weird “design a room” challenges tend to involve some hosting, but that’s more TV hosting than club hosting. How many times can I say “hosting” in this write-up?) I liked some elements of her curtain look, but the sum was less than its parts, and it was a pretty low-difficulty outfit. I was a child raised by Project Runway; I’m always gonna be annoyed when someone goes mostly for fabric in an unconventional materials challenge. Anyway, I think Myki’s got potential, but this wasn’t a smash debut.
7. Athena Dion
This might sound strange to say, but for a legend on Athena Dion’s level, I expected her premiere performance to feel … more legendary? Think about Sasha Colby’s premiere: While she didn’t even score in the top for her talent show, her “Zombie” lip sync was terrific, and the other queens were ready to quit on the spot when they saw her walk in. There was a lot of recognition of Athena by the other queens, and even some estimation of her as a threat … but not at the same level. Then she got into some low-level drama with Briar Blush off-camera, and while I definitely think she was in the right—and “Help and advice are two separate things. You could use both!” was a banger line—the whole thing felt a bit beneath a queen of her calibre. Worse, her look for the challenge was okay at best (though I did like the bow). It was a B-level performance this week when I know she’s an A-level queen.
Like Juicy, I wonder if Athena will be able to focus with her family in the room. The Virgo Queen once said on Canada’s Drag Race that she couldn’t really unleash until Sanjina Dabish Queen, her drag daughter, was eliminated. That said, Virgo ultimately won, so if Athena does outlast her daughter, perhaps that comparison portends well for her.
6. Mia Starr
Love Mia’s journey with drag. Coming back to it after a 14-year break speaks to a love of the art form—she was successful as a dancer, but never lost her interest in drag. I’d put good money on her to win next week if she can put together a half-decent verse, because her dance ability and experience are next-level. I thought her Cardi-inspired black-and-white look this week, while obviously not strong enough to win the challenge, was nonetheless quite cute! And I love her embrace of ’90s and 2000s fashion as her aesthetic. I’m rooting for Mia!
5. Briar Blush
Of the two clear villains this season, colour me much more intrigued by Briar’s brand of brash bitchiness (say that three times fast) than what Discord has going on. Coming in and not hugging a single one of her competitors was hilarious, as was her entrance line—“Why are you recording me?!” I like a bitch who knows she’s a bitch and has some fun with it, and that’s clearly Briar’s whole deal. Like, she was the clear loser in her drama with Athena, but she had a smile on her face or a wink in her eye the entire time. She’s relishing the experience! I’m a fan! I wish I was more of a fan of her “kitty cat burlesque showgirl” look, but it was solid enough to survive the week. I hope she sticks around for a while.
4. Darlene Mitchell
I’m drawn to Darlene for a few different reasons, not the least of which is a pretty compelling personal story with drag. Having done drag for years as “Trash,” with an entirely different aesthetic and point-of-view, only to go back to being a bedroom queen and return with a whole new persona, is something we really haven’t seen on the show. The fact that her sobriety journey ties in with that adds a dimension that I imagine we’ll learn more about, and I’m eager to hear it. On the runway, her babydoll dress was simple, but there was real charm to it. I’ve probably ranked Darlene too high here relative to the runway results, but I’m really intrigued to see more from her. Call it a prediction of potential.
3. Jane Don’t
Jane’s drag family really keeps churning out great confessionalists! (And Arrietty.) Like Bosco and Irene the Alien, Jane is unapologetic in her talking heads, but crucially, she’s not cruel. There’s a bluntness and an honesty that you gotta respect. I feel like I “trust” Jane and her observations based on her confessionals in this first episode, y’know? In terms of her look: I thought it was fine, more a feat of styling than design. When Cardi zeroed in on her hair, I understood why she was placed in the top, even if I wouldn’t have personally done the same. Were I a betting man, I’d put my dollars on Jane to make a deep run this season. She’s clearly polished, with a POV that the show has been very fond of in the past. And hey, anyone who’s gonna come on TV and drag Irene for that pouring-water talent show again is a friend of mine.
2. Vita VonTesse Starr
Vita wins the Season 18 award for “Name I Will Have to Check the Stylizing of Most.” (Double S instead of E like Dita Von Teese, no space in the middle name, two Rs on “Starr”—pray for me.) She also probably should’ve won this challenge, but a Lip Sync for the Win had other plans. It seems like she believed this wouldn’t be an episode with a top two lip sync, so she didn’t bother to learn the words to “Enough (Miami)” … but with only a couple of exceptions, nearly every RuPaul’s Drag Race premiere of the 2020s has been non-elimination with a winners’ lip sync. I’m bummed for her that she didn’t snatch the win for what was clearly the best look of the episode (I still can’t get over just how much she got done in the allotted time, with umbrellas at that!), but still a great showing for her.
1. Nini Coco
Congratulations to Nini on snatching the premiere win! She strikes me as a very prepared queen: She tackled the design challenge as a feat of engineering, knew that doing a good look out of LaLa Ri’s paper bags had major redemption potential and had every damn word of that Cardi song down. I was impressed with her, and while I think she benefitted from the Lip Sync for the Win, that’s the name of the game. If I have any concern about Nini, it’s that she does feel a bit lower-key in the personality department than the queens around her. But she’s seemingly formed a quick bond with Kenya, and that is a friendship I would love to see go far. Nini’s one to watch, and with a win under her belt, she won’t be going anywhere any time soon.
Why you can trust Xtra
